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Chief William Anderson announced Monday that Tim Scapin, of Pinellas Co., Fla., will become the department's property and evidence manager on March 4.

"It's one of the most sensitive areas within an law enforcement agency, so having somebody with this level of experience in this area is going to take us where we need to be," Anderson said.

Scapin will replace William Lee Smith. City records show Smith went on paid investigative suspension in January 2011. He resigned the next month.

In April 2011, the State Bureau of Investigation began an investigation into missing evidence at the request of Buncombe Co. District Attorney Ron Moore.

Moore said he had to drop drug charges in a case because because 400 hydrocodone pills were missing.

Preliminary results of a subsequent audit revealed that 54 containers of drugs, 34 packages of cash and 27 guns were unaccounted for.

SBI spokeswoman Jennifer Canada said the investigation has been turned over to prosecutors.

When the investigation first started, the evidence room was sealed up. The police department then opened a second room. Control of the old evidence room was returned to police in February 2012. One sergeant and four officers are handling the duties of the evidence and property manager.

He said during an audit and multiple inspections of both evidence rooms, there were no problems locating the requested items.

"The most important thing is being able to put our hands on a piece of evidence when we need to and having a tracking system in place," Anderson said.

Anderson said since last August, more than 5,000 pieces of evidence were collected, more than 1,000 were returned and about 500 were destroyed.

The chief said the department is dealing with limited space and will look into the possibility of expanding to an off-site location. Scapin is expected to evaluate future needs.

A press release from the city said Scapin was a two-time recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. The release states that he was also the first person in Florida and one of the first in the world to be certified as a specialist by the International Association for Property and Evidence.